I'm interested in doing gas station reveals and inspections. What would be some that you would recommend or are your favorites?

I did some research and the ones available near me are Shell MMP, XOM Site Experience / Lighting, P66, Chevron.

I've been driving more and further. Lately had gas stations in the back of my mind. It didn't occur to me, just how many I pass along on some of my commutes.

I did some research, and have been looking at some of the ones available. If possible, I try to download the guidelines before accepting. Most in my area seem to be on Presto or with one specific MSC.

I had a positive experience with Chevron Customers First. While that's a conditional reveal, all of the small amount that I did, required a reveal. Most got picked up at base.

I picked up one Shell MMP nearby that got bonused. I might try some of these, just to try it, and see which ones I like.

between Chevron, Exxon, Shell and 76 I think 76 is the easiest among all 4. It pays 12 + 10 (mix and match between store purchase and gas purchase). The only trick is really to check on their requirement on day or night.

Shell is the other one I really like. It gives the most pay (before bonus) and it guarantee you full 2 gal of gas (87). The major downside of this one is that it requires quite a bit of pictures including every gas pump, so you may want to use google maps and check out the amount of gas pump each station has before you take on the job. $2 on c-store reimbursement.

Chevron first...I have mix feeling about this. It can be easy, it can also be hard, especially in my area, gas pump don't like giving you receipts. If everything is perfect, it could be the easiest shops between all 4. 1 gal of gas + $2 c-store reimbursement.

Exxon...this is the one I completely avoid because it has the most requirement while giving the least amount of reimbursement. It require even more pics than shell, if not the same, and it only gives you like 1 gal of gas and $1 in c-store reimbursement. Based on my observation no one ever does them at base pay, it always sit in presto until it get bonus, then people start taking them.

Oh btw for Chevron...there's actually 3 different kinds of jobs. Chevron First, Chevron Image and Chevron Star.

Chevron First is just the regular gas+ C-store covert audit, Chevron Image is reveal audit, mainly focus on the setup of the gas location and the pop placement. no gas purchase required, and pay 15 per job. Chevron Star mainly focus on the extramile C-store audit. You do have to covert at the beginning, buy something at c-store(reimbust up to $2, then reveal yourself and do the audit part...like checking temperature, pop placement etc. Chevron Star require most work but the pay is also pretty nice...at $24 per job

Lastly...you can only choose between Chevron First vs Chevron Image + Star. I have opted for Chevron Image & Star over first mainly because I get enough free gas from shell and 76, and I have a much better return ratio from First & star than the first given how most of the chevron around my are don't print receipt at gas pump.

There's a few more gas station on the shopmetric side for the major I MSC like Valero, and Sinclair...I rarely do them so I cannot commend on those

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2024 05:53PM by kisekinecro.

I prefer Circle K because they are performed very quickly on the app and pay is quick and requirements are straightforward.
I've done some for Citgo which were reasonable, but the current ones I see are not worth it IMO - $7 for several pictures and an unreimbursed purchase - seems like the net effect is well well below an acceptable pay range for most people - unless I am missing something, don't think I am.

Thank you!!! I'm going to do Shell and P66. Shell, I do like it gives you four days to complete. But oh sheet, the one I picked up is a larger gas station. It's as big as a QT/RT. Might pick up some more P66 nearby.

That makes sense now, about not being able to schedule the other Chevron, after doing Customer First.

I'll have to look around for Citgo and Circle K. I think I saw Sunoco somewhere.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2024 06:17PM by Okie.

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Oh wow, the Sunoco in Lajitas, TX near Big Bend ... looks beautiful.

I've vacationed around Big Bend, and it is a beautiful place. Just avoid the heat of the summer.

That's a remote area where I have seen some of the highest paying bonuses in the entire continental USA for some MSC opportunities, up to $300 to $500 each for quick half hour jobs. I'm sure that the current scheduling company that has Lajitas is really happy about that.

@Okie wrote:

Oh wow, the Sunoco in Lajitas, TX near Big Bend ... looks beautiful.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/09/2024 02:34AM by thunderdeacon.

Chevron Customer First and Phillips 66 are my faves, and I will do any I can get at base pay, bonuses gladly accepted. I have 33 locations booked between the two of them over the next few days.

Shell is too involved for base pay, unless it's a 4-pumper that happens to be on my way. I just passed on a 6-pumper bonused to $20. Still not quite enough gross pay vs the number of photos required.

Now that Exxon only requires 1 pump photo I might do them for base, but they'd have to be convenient and I might need to be a bit desperate for $$$.

I like Exxon the best. The reports are finished before I leave the station and I'm used to the reports since I've been doing them for years. I choose selectively however, depending on the fee and condition of the site. I did one 66 (Conoco) and it was a nightmare that I won't repeat. I did not find it easy at all. I've given up on BPs since 2 were declined for doing them in the rain. I'll do Shells once in awhile. The onsite part isn't too bad, but the reports are a PITA to me. Valero is okay too.

Edited to add...Sunoco's are grossly underpaid for the amount of work and not revealed ... no thanks



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/10/2024 08:50PM by MsJudi.

I'm weird, but I think it would be fun to some time do a cross country trip and shop as many different brands as reasonably possible....take your time, see the sights.

Not on the scale of CoolMusic, but it's got me thinking about something on a smaller scale to that, maybe next year though. Going to run some errands in the area, and then do the Shell towards the end of the night. Hopefully, it's a lot slower then. I picked up another that got bonused, but that one is only four pumps.

After further research, there's pretty much every brand known to man in my area.

The Shell MMP went well. Having done it now though, there's just all of these things I would have done differently in a more efficient manner and refine. But going to work on a template for future ones. I think I could have got this done in 20 minutes on-site, but spent 30 minutes triple checking everything and taking extra pictures. It was a nice station though.

I wish the Presto report as a whole was available in PDF format. There's so many loaded gotcha's if there's any issue or certain answer choice you select.

Going into this, I was fixated on the restrooms and number of pumps. The number of pumps wasn't actually bad. I was able to get through that fairly quickly. But I didn't know there were all of these items you have to check off inside of the store. Oh my gosh!

The cashier was successful in mentioning the rewards. I don't know the right way to do this, but I just wrote down the generated code on the paper with the instructions to redeem his reward.

And also, of all of the pictures, the selfie was the one I almost forgot. The vest actually came in handy. People let me do my thing and gave me the right of way.

On to P66 next.

The reward redemption instructions no longer tell the employee what to do with the code as it used to. It just tells the shopper when to present the reward. I just tell them that the manager should know how to redeem it (some don't know either).

Sounds like you did well! You'll get your flow going and breeze through in no time. Hopefully NIMBY!

I handed him the last page. The instructions on the last page seemed to be worded to the site staff member on how to redeem the fuel rewards. I don't know why I do this, but I went into detail about it. He seemed giddy about it.

I always enjoy doling out the Shell rewards. Rarely happens, but they tend to make even the grumpiest clerk light up as they represent a really nice value.

One of the best things about Exxon moving to Magic! (besides only 1 pump photo) is they got rid of the rewards criteria. Delivering a worthless piece of paper along with the LOA was just plain stupid. That being said, I did have one clerk react like they had just made it on stage on The Price Is Right, and they asked me to autograph the certificate.

FWIW, I'll share my gas station MO for when I do not have time to file reports while onsite:

I file my reports in reverse order of completion.

While newest photos show up at the bottom of my iPhone library, they show up at the top of the screen in the online report. So last in, first out is the most efficient way to work.

When the schedule is not too tight I'll try to get all the questions answered onsite, leaving only the pics for later. Makes it pretty easy to wrap up the report on the phone when I take a break. Short of that, I'll answer any questions needed to reveal the entire report, and I'll at least input my out time and save the report before moving on.

If it's an overnight route I prefer the comfort of my hotel room for getting work done. I'll use the photos from the shop as a reference while filling out the report on my laptop, leaving only the photos to be uploaded to the report from my phone. Once that is done I delete all the photos from the shop so the next most recent location's batch is up next.

I try to get the fuel receipt photo first, and I put the store receipt on the driver's seat when I return to get the LOA and vest (if necessary). Unless I catch something on my way out, the 2 receipts will serve as visual markers between batches in my photo library.

I used to transfer photos from my phone and organize them on my laptop. But I'm finding AirDrop to be woefully inconsistent for the task, and it's more work than is necessary to effectively get the job done.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2024 01:18PM by CoolMusic.

Thanks! About the photos of the pumps - I was getting borderline OCD about it, and wanted to do it in order for a similar reason on the uploads. Except for some of those special decal ones, they all started to look the same, and I couldn't make out the number. Thankfully, there were not many cars at the pumps.

For the report on-site, the only thing I did was toggle answer choices, especially the issue ones, to see if a photo requirement popped up.

While the employee gave me free reign and paved the way for me, I took advantage of it and took a lot of extra pictures for recall purposes. There's no way I can remember all of these small things and can refer to a visual back home.

For this report, even though there's minimal typing, I personally rather do it with a mouse and keyboard on a monitor.

And for the reveal part, I made sure to have everything ready. In my pockets, I had the vest, LOA, and reward paper stuffed. I wanted to do it all in one swoop. I took that time to take extra pictures of the counter for promotional materials and drugs nearby.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2024 02:39PM by Okie.

P66 is my new favorite! Well, the ones in my area. I see the appeal now. A guy asked me if I worked there, and wanted to report some pump issues. Good looking out!

Shell was the most gratifying, but what a PITFA. I still have to done one more Shell. It’s still not a high enough bonus, but oh well.

I don’t think I’m going to be able to do a Chevron lighting this round.

Hopefully, I’m eligible for Chevron Customer First next round.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2024 02:30AM by Okie.

@Okie wrote:

Hopefully, I’m eligible for Chevron Customer First next round.

Once you do a Chevron, whether it's Customer First ($8.50) or the other ($15.00 - can't think of the name), you are locked into doing only that type of shop. There is no flip-flopping back and forth, regardless of how much time elapses.

Have you already done a Chevron?

Oh weird. The first ever revealed gas audit I did was Chevron with 11 pictures in June. That one was heavily bonused. Maybe $15 + $75 bonus. I don’t know why though. It was a fairly nice location. Since then, the recent Chevron Customer First has been the first I’ve done.

Hmm. Odd. I do Customer First; if I look at any of the other ones, the dates are automatically grayed out.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2024 04:36AM by drdoggie00.

You did an image audit in June? And a customer first shop last month? It says everywhere that you can't do both, you have to pick Image ($15 fully revealed audit) or Customer First ($8.50 + 1 gal gas and $1 inside). I choose Image audits. I don't want to do customer first shops, but I have suggested to my son to try them, because they get some really good bonuses sometimes.

Image! Yes, that’s the name. Thanks, Morl.

Took a look. Image in June. Customer First in Oct. Can it be alternated by quarter? Or are you locked in permanently when you pick one or the other?

Picked up another Customer First, and I see the verbiage in the shop now. Weird, I think I might be locked into CF now. But just noticed it also said you can't shop the same location two quarters in a row.

To switch Chevron projects, I had to ask the project manager then take a quiz. The first question on the quiz was, "Have you completed a (revealed/unrevealed) shop in the last 6 months?" So there is a 6 month wait. Unless that has changed recently. Or a shopper lies, which no doubt would be flagged.

You got lucky, Okie, by not having that quiz. But be careful! They "catch" shoppers for violations, real or imagined, relentlessly.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2024 10:53AM by sestrahelena.

Oh wow, thank you! I'm trying to remember what I did, but I'm not sure now. I downloaded the guidelines for all of these at once to compare, but now I'm so confused after I thought I had it in order.

Just took a look at XOM Site Experience. And for a second, I thought that was a Chevron too.

Had a question about the P66 EIA, in case anyone has run into it before. The ones I picked up, the appeal of these to me is that the store is closed before night, but the fuel station part is to be done during night.

This hasn't occurred for me yet, but for those who have encountered this - If the receipt was not to print, would you just take a picture of the screen(s) displaying the total amount/prompts, and receipt dispenser? And maybe also include a screenshot of the credit card transaction.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2024 01:10PM by Okie.

Just remembered another tip, for Shell shops.

Take your pump pictures in reverse numerical order. That way they show up in the correct order when filing the report in Magic!

If a pump is not currently available I will grab other pictures and resume the reverse order of the pics as pumps become available.

@Okie wrote:

Had a question about the P66 EIA, in case anyone has run into it before. The ones I picked up, the appeal of these to me is that the store is closed before night, but the fuel station part is to be done during night.

This hasn't occurred for me yet, but for those who have encountered this - If the receipt was not to print, would you just take a picture of the screen(s) displaying the total amount/prompts, and receipt dispenser? And maybe also include a screenshot of the credit card transaction.

Yup. Had this happen a couple of times on a recent route. I made sure to ask the editor to extend the due dates so the Incomplete shops would not fall off my board while I waited for my credit card info to change from pending.

Okie,

The guidelines say to conduct the shop like a kiosk location if you can still buy gas. But I don't see how that's possible when they turn out ALL of the lights. The flash on any camera isn't going to get a picture of the canopy or the over all site, and probably not even the entire gas island. They are probably required to leave some lights on in other states if the pumps are still on.